i just was wondering if i was the only one gravitating towards the products that i think i can improve upon?

i mean, i find myself not using so much the products that i think i have mastered. for example, the viking soap. for me it had a very easy learning curve. and since i know its there and i love it, and i know i can get right there whenever i want to, i just reach out more for -for example- the C&S that is very nice, but took me a while to make it work (solved thanks to carvelo).

Pushing the edges of the envelope can be fun at times - leaving your comfort zone and testing limits. It's a similar thing to what I do with razors on occasion; putting in a blade I "know" don't work well in it and making it work regardless.

But sometimes it's really nice to stay in the middle of the performance envelope and stay clear of the coffin corner... just enjoy a nice, relaxing shave where everything just works

I did this the first years of my journey, 2011-2012, but now that I feel experienced, I don't feel the need to any longer.

An example.
I lived in denial because all the veterans in 2011/2012 told me MWF soap was awesome but for some took longer to master.
I tried and tried to learn to master it, but lied to myself and others, and always hated it.

Not so any more. Now I just hate MWF. And I embrace the fact that I will never ever own it again. It's crap soap to me.

Another example.
Chubby 2 handle.
Everyone raved about this handle in 2012, but I felt like 'WTF' ?!?
It's too small, too uncomfortable and without grip. Yet I managed to buy 12-14 Chubby 2 brushes, because I tried to get the feel for the handle, not realising I would always hate everything about it. Sold all of my CH2 now.

I'm too much into and soon over this to waste time on less than fantastic products.
If a soap needs extra attention to perform, it's on my list of soaps to get rid of ASAP.
I own so many 100's of soaps that are 9.5/10 or better, why waste time on attention whores ?

When I started wet shaving with DE and learned more about straight razors, I told myself I would never use straight because it's too much work but a year later I started using straight because I felt it was challenging and wanted to overcome that. Once I started I never looked back, I use straight 99.9% of the time, I don't have any interest in learning how to hone but that could change in the future. I recently started using a kamisori for the same reason and I enjoy using it too. Since a lot of us treat this as a hobby I think we tend to try out different things just to satisfy our curiosity of how it shaves, how it works, how it feels. I've never had any problem with soaps though, seems to be able to get a good lather from all that I've tried so far.

I pretty much stay with things that work extremely well for me. I'd rather push excellent products to the penultimate edge they are capeable of, rather than spend my time coaxing an inferior product perform adequately. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The only soap or brand that I have use finish is Mystic Water... Three pucks to be exact and my other 50+ soaps is far from finishing even one puck.

I can't get a stable lather with Mystic Water so I try day after day, so basically I will bring Mystic Water into the shave den, it is get shavable lather, then good, if not I will take out my back up puck of soap.

Now I just face the fact..... Mystic Water is not worth my trouble, but I do like to keep a puck or two around incase I want to try my skills with their soap again

(03-26-2017, 08:13 AM)aerolord Wrote: The only soap or brand that I have use finish is Mystic Water... Three pucks to be exact and my other 50+ soaps is far from finishing even one puck.

I can't get a stable lather with Mystic Water so I try day after day, so basically I will bring Mystic Water into the shave den, it is get shavable lather, then good, if not I will take out my back up puck of soap.

Now I just face the fact..... Mystic Water is not worth my trouble, but I do like to keep a puck or two around incase I want to try my skills with their soap again

(03-26-2017, 08:13 AM)aerolord Wrote: The only soap or brand that I have use finish is Mystic Water... Three pucks to be exact and my other 50+ soaps is far from finishing even one puck.

I can't get a stable lather with Mystic Water so I try day after day, so basically I will bring Mystic Water into the shave den, it is get shavable lather, then good, if not I will take out my back up puck of soap.

Now I just face the fact..... Mystic Water is not worth my trouble, but I do like to keep a puck or two around incase I want to try my skills with their soap again

Is it the new or old Mystic Water formulation?

Both old and new as I was very persistent. I finished V1 puck and I bought two V2 puck to give it another chance... no dice.

The only one I have a good lather was V1 without lanolin(Unscented, so it might be good for you), I don't know why but that give me stable lather BUT, the post shave is not as good as those with lanolin.

(03-26-2017, 12:13 AM)WegianWarrior Wrote: Pushing the edges of the envelope can be fun at times - leaving your comfort zone and testing limits. It's a similar thing to what I do with razors on occasion; putting in a blade I "know" don't work well in it and making it work regardless.

But sometimes it's really nice to stay in the middle of the performance envelope and stay clear of the coffin corner... just enjoy a nice, relaxing shave where everything just works

Dear Warrior;

Testing the limits... I just love that! Oh, how many times have i paid with blood. Mind you, a little blood. Jajaja... I don't mind it at all.

Makinga difficult blade to work is something that has not crossed my mind. Amazing. That would be a great way to improve technique! Don't you think?

And yes. Sometimes the shave is not an experiment. It has no curiosity. It is purely utilitarian. Its like: i am going to a job interview. Gotta look clean and pro. There is space for that. I would bore to hell in no time if i did that every day, but i definitely enjoy doing it every once in a while!

(03-26-2017, 12:37 AM)CHSeifert Wrote: I did this the first years of my journey, 2011-2012, but now that I feel experienced, I don't feel the need to any longer.

An example.
I lived in denial because all the veterans in 2011/2012 told me MWF soap was awesome but for some took longer to master.
I tried and tried to learn to master it, but lied to myself and others, and always hated it.

Not so any more. Now I just hate MWF. And I embrace the fact that I will never ever own it again. It's crap soap to me.

Another example.
Chubby 2 handle.
Everyone raved about this handle in 2012, but I felt like 'WTF' ?!?
It's too small, too uncomfortable and without grip. Yet I managed to buy 12-14 Chubby 2 brushes, because I tried to get the feel for the handle, not realising I would always hate everything about it. Sold all of my CH2 now.

I'm too much into and soon over this to waste time on less than fantastic products.
If a soap needs extra attention to perform, it's on my list of soaps to get rid of ASAP.
I own so many 100's of soaps that are 9.5/10 or better, why waste time on attention whores ?

Dear Claus;

I am with you. The thing is that the journey is different for everyone. In other words, i don't care what they say about this soap or that brush, etc... I have my own aesthetics.

In my case it is complicated. For example: i got C&S soap. First try was a home run. Wooowwww! Second time around, could not make lather out of it. Third time: what a piece of crap. Asked for advice. Got some. Next time: big improvement. Time after that: even more. Today I used it. As good as the first time!... But! But... I went for a third pass: not enough soap in the brush. So, hopes are high. It needs work. Love the scent, the postshave... in fact, i like the soap. its technique that is lacking. My 30 seconds loading routine does not work with this soap. Or my silvertips don't have enough backbone. I bet i will figure it out.

Of course, there is some other stuff that i try and PIF. Period. But not C&S.

(03-30-2017, 11:38 PM)grayhane Wrote: Other than a few samples , all of my shaving soaps come from one source, my wife.

Never am sure what might be next in the new category, but it is nice to comment on what you might want changed and it's done.

When she first started making our soap years ago I didn't understand why but after over15 years of fantastic bar and shaving soap, I don't look elsewhere often.

Dear Mr. Gray;

That is great. I make soap too. Enjoy doing it a lot. Every time i take a shower i feel accomplished. My shaving soap is pretty good. In fact, its in the doorstep of great. It just needs a little more postshave moisturizing.

I keep saying that i buy artisans soap as part of my soap making hunt, but that is not absolutely true. The other part is that i like variety very much.